VISIT TO National Trust – RAINHAM HALL, London on Thursday 11 June 2026

·       Trip to elegant Georgian house with diverse history

·       Changing exhibitions

·       Guided tour

·       Free time to explore grounds

·       Café

·       Non Arts Society members also welcome

·       Refunds in exceptional circumstances only

Cost £20 (NT members) / £28 (non NT members) including coach travel, gratuities, entry to House and grounds.

CLOSING DATE:  28 May 2026 – BOOK TODAY!

Further information from Annette Cooper.   EMAIL:  annette.cooper22@btinternet.com,   Home phone 01634 222159

Further information from Sheila Butler.   

EMAIL: smturner4@virginmedia.com  

Home phone 01634 319117

We are joining a day trip organised by Crosskeys.

The cost is £58

The coach will leave from the bus stop outside the Orida Hotel, Maidstone at 10.00.

Parking is available at the hotel.

The second visit to Romney Marsh will take place on Monday 13 October (weather permitting). We will visit 5 or 6 of the ancient churches, have a pub lunch and stop for coffee later in the day. This is a whole day trip using members cars. We only have two drivers, that’s 6 extra places, at the moment so if you can offer to drive and take passengers in your car that would be appreciated. Please contact us by Friday 10 October if you are interested/can help.

Road trip to Romney Marsh churches - save the date - names will be taken at the July lecture.

Road trip by car (or train and 20 min walk or 5min taxi) to the Hastings gallery for the Under the Sea Exhibition - save the date, names to be taken at the June lecture.

The trip is now fully booked.

Road trip by car to Ditchling Arts and Crafts Museum and textiles exhibition - names to be taken at May lecture

Possible road trip by car to WW1 memorial service at Chattri Memorial - names will be taken at May lecture.

This visit is for the Grayson Perry 65th Birthday exhibition, as a reflection of our January lecture. 

The trip is now fully booked - looking forward to feedback.

Dulwich Picture Gallery, for the Tirzah Garwood exhibition March/April or early May - this will be a train trip across London (approx £20), to learn more about this Gillingham born artist, and when we know numbers we will be able to confirm price of entry to the gallery & exhibition (this could be £26:50). 

Ditchling Arts & Crafts Museum, for the Tadek Beutlich textile exhibition before June - this will be a car journey of about an hour and a half and a full day out (with cafe lunch). Please let us know if you would like to join and can drive with passengers, or whether you would like to have a lift with others that are going. Exhibition tickets are £9

Hastings Contemporary, for the Undersea exhibition from March onward - this is another car journey of about an hour and a half, with a full day out (almost certainly to include fish & chips on the Stade if weather permits!) so again please let us know whether you would like to join as a driver or passenger. Exhibition tickets are £11 

The Friars at Aylesford Priory, Pottery & Upholstery Workshop - less than half an hour from the centre of town, this peaceful spot is worth exploring. Free entry but with shop & tearoom on site. Please let us know whether you would like to join as a driver or passenger 

Guru Nanak Durbar Gurdwara, Gravesend - A place of unique scale, the largest in Europe, with 5 elaborate domes, and design inspired by the Golden Temple at Amritsar, with hand crafted marble & stonework, colourful interior tiling and stained glass. A note on this visit is that heads must be covered (with a scarf) and shoes are not permitted inside. Let us know if you would like to join us for a fascinating insight into the Sikh temple.

And finally, for now, we will be embarking on part2 of the Romney Marsh Historic Churches mystery road trip - jump in a car and let us guide you through the landscape to explore hidden gems and artworks. This is a full day out (free, but with pub lunch and tea breaks!) and covers windswept landscapes with uneven ground. Let us know if you are game! Attendance at part1 of the road trip last summer is not a requirement!

Unfortunately we have not been able to achieve the numbers required, so we have cancelled the trip to Liverpool.

5 day visit to Liverpool in late September, 4 nights at the Marriott Hotel, city tour and other items, based on 20 guests, around £900 per person, MEALS ARE NOT INCLUDED - PAY AT THE TIME.

Dates 30 Sep 2024 - 4 Oct 2024

Duration 5 days 4 nights

Coach Executive coach throughout (the coach will be provided by a Tailored Travel recommended coach company)

Entrance fees to non-National Trust properties, 4 nights half board accommodation, and audio headsets on Days 2 to 4:-

Guide A Blue Badge guide is included on days 2, 3 & 4. Guided tours are also included at the Walker Gallery, Lady Lever Art Gallery & The Lowry.

Hotel We stay four nights on a half board basis (breakfasts and dinners on four days) at the centrally located 4* Aloft Hotel (or similar) (https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/lplal-aloft-liverpool/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2) in Liverpool. Housed in the iconic Grade II-listed Royal Insurance Building, facilities at the hotel include a restaurant, and bar. All rooms are en-suite and feature television, telephone, hairdryer, and tea & coffee making facilities.

Single Rooms The maximum number of single rooms available for your group is 10. Any extra singles are subject to availability and will incur a higher supplement.

Included Entrance fees to non-National Trust properties are included (most of the properties visited are actually free of charge). Audio headsets on Days 2 to 4 are included.

Not Included Entrance fees to National Trust properties (free to NT members) & also gratuities are not included. Donations at the 2 cathedrals visited are also not included.

Marketing Literature Supplied free of charge

Rooms Twins/Doubles Single

5 days 4 nights £819.00 +/- £99.00 +/-

Offer is subject to availability (rates not valid when special events, congresses & football matches are taking place in Liverpool) Insurance (including Covid cover) £28.00 per person The cost of the tour is based on a minimum of 20 paying passengers

The Art & History of Liverpool

Autumn 2024 - itinerary

Day 1 We depart in our private executive coach from our designated pick up points. En route to our hotel the National Trust’s Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire. Begun in 1504 and completed 100 years later, Little Moreton Hall is regarded as the finest example of a timber-framed moated house in the country. We continue to the centrally located 4* Aloft Hotel (or similar) in Liverpool for a four night stay on a half board basis.

Day 2 With our Blue Badge guide we tour Liverpool this morning taking in the splendour of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Cathedral with its modern circular design and glorious multi coloured windows and Liverpool Cathedral, one of the most iconic buildings of the city. This afternoon we enjoy a guided tour of the Walker Art Gallery, introducing us to one of the finest collections of fine and decorative art in Europe with works by Rembrandt, Poussin and Degas, 20th century works by artists such as Lucian Freud, David Hockney and Gilbert and George as well as one of the most important sculpture collections outside London.

Day 3 Port Sunlight Village was built by the Lever family for their workers and the village has over 900 listed and preserved buildings, wide streets and gardens. On arrival at the Lady Lever Art Gallery with our Blue Badge guide we have a guided tour of the works collected throughout the life of its founder, William Hesketh Lever, the first Lord Leverhulme. British 18th and 19th century painting, 18th century furniture and outstanding collections of Wedgwood and Chinese porcelain are among the treasures on show. We then visit Crosby Beach to see the internationally acclaimed artist Antony Gormley’s work ‘Another Place’. Best known for his controversial sculpture ‘Angel of the North’, ‘Another Place’ are massive installations of 100 cast iron figures, moulded from the artist’s own body in the style that has become synonymous with his work.

Day 4 Our Blue Badge guide meets us at our hotel this morning. We visit the Museum of Liverpool this morning. Opened in 2011, the museum depicts the story of Liverpool and its people, and reflects the city’s global significance. The rest of the day is at leisure in Liverpool, and you may choose to further explore the Albert Dock, Liverpool’s most visited attraction situated in a stunning World Heritage waterfront setting. Alternatively, on an individual basis you may choose to enjoy a cruise on the River Mersey to see the city from a different perspective.

Day 5 After checking out of our hotel and before returning home, we enjoy a guided tour of The Lowry. Set in a magnificent waterside location at the heart of the redeveloped Salford Quays, The Lowry houses the biggest public collection of works by LS Lowry with around 350 paintings and drawings, ranging across Lowry's artistic career. We spend some further time at leisure at Salford Quays and you may choose to visit the nearby Imperial War Museum North, an award winning building by international architect Daniel Libeskind. One of the most talked about Museums in Britain today, the Imperial War Museum North is about people and their stories and how lives have been and still are shaped by war and conflict. Taking carefully selected comfort stops en route, we return back to our original pick up points.

Please let Suki know if you are interested.

Coach from 5 pick up points

Guided tour of the castle

Time to enjoy the castle, grounds and lunch

£ to be advised along with tea etc

More details to follow.

Our original visit to Margate was to have been to The Turner Gallery; this unfortunately didn’t happen, so we explored the galleries in the old town of which there are many, some open, some closed and some with artists in residence.

(The full report, including pictures, is in our Documents. Click here to read it there.)

David B. at The Community Pharmacy Gallery made us very welcome with tea and biscuits and chatted about his time working in Set Design. We moved across the road to The Anthony Giles Gallery where Anthony was working on one of his seascapes – fabulous, vibrant images of the Margate water and sky. Some members visited The Liminal Gallery which must be the tiniest space for displaying local works of art, where the founder and curator, Louise Fitzjohn, was very happy to talk about the contemporary artists whose work she displays there.

We were fortunate that at The Anthony Wait Gallery he was painting too – this Anthony is also inspired by the sky and water of Margate and includes his Yorkshire terrier in many of his paintings.

The sculpture of The Shell Lady, Mrs Booth, stands at the end of The Harbour Arm, welcoming those arriving by sea.    

Another Anthony in Margate is of course Anthony Gormley; his statue ‘Another Time’ stands offshore over the seawall next to The Turner Gallery – it can be seen emerging from the water about three hours before low tide.

Our Roseway coach then took us along the coast to The Walpole Bay Hotel in Clifftonville where the first person we met when entering was Arnold Schwartzman OBE, film director and author who lived in Margate as a child before making a career in the film industry; he was to be invested with the Freedom of The Borough the next day.

The Walpole Bay Hotel is an Edwardian seaside hotel packed with original furniture, features and photographs of the many famous people who have visited in the last thirty years and an amazing collection of cards dating back to 1914 which document the visits of everyone who ever stayed in the hotel

The hotel owner, Jane Bishop, gave us an informative and amusing account of their life at The Walpole Bay Hotel, of the celebrities who have stayed there and of the collections of absolutely everything and anything that has been donated to their museum, everything from milk bottles to baby dolls, 1940’s fashion to old radios – it is unbelievably quirky and fascinating.

The Nappery Gallery is a collection of the hotel’s linen napkins that have been turned into works of art by people who have stayed or eaten at the Hotel – they are fabulous!

Tracey Emin has used 20 Walpole embroidered sheets in her work so far and Richard Savin has just published a novel ‘The Man at The Walpole Bay Hotel’

A very tasty cream tea followed our talk and time to tour through the hotel viewing the collections.

Our day at the seaside in Margate was sunny and relaxing – a different kind of visit.

Visit includes a guided tour of the house in small groups (1 hour), Cream tea included, lovely gardens to explore. Cost is £44 with tea/coffee and biscuits on arrival included.

Click here to view the report of the visit.

THIS VISIT HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO LACK OF INTEREST. APOLOGIES.

Enjoy a guided tour of the house, with lunch at the Sun Inn, Bredgar included. (Church, glass shop and Duck Pond!) Cost, including lunch, £48

Tours at Provender House in Faversham offer an in-depth history of this building which dates back to the 13th Century. Named after its first owner, Sir John de Provender, who made his wealth from being in the service of King Henry III, six Centuries of owners who were explorers, heiress and currently a princess. Each owner and era tastes as well as the latest fashion can be seen in the architectural styles of Provender House. It is said that Jane Austen would have visited Provender House from her brother's home nearby in Godmersham, possibly with Provender's Edward Knatchbull-Huguesson as a potential husband for her favourite niece, Fanny Knight. Fanny did indeed marry Edward and lived at Provender despite fretting that its 30 rooms would be inadequate for her seven family members. Her son, Lord Brabourne, edited the first edition of Jane Austen's letters, having found them, along with an original copy of Austen's novel Lady Susan.
Provender is now the home of Princess Olga Romanoff, the daughter of Prince Andrew Romanoff, the eldest nephew of the Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and was almost derelict when he died in 2000. However, a careful programme of restoration has restored the house to its current splendour.    

Click here for the booking form.

All Saints' Church in Tudeley, Kent, England, is the only church in the world that has all its windows in stained glass designed by Marc Chagall.

Trip to Belmont House (Kent)

To see the report on the visit, click here.

The original house on the site was built by Edward Wilks of the Royal Gun powder works near Faversham. Col John Montresor bought the house in 1780 and enlarged the park and the house. The innovative architect Samuel Wyatt was engaged for the design.

Col Montresor died in prison of gaol fever after being wrongly accused of embezzling army funds – it took many years for the family to clear his name. The estate was seized by the Government and sold at auction to General George Harris who would later become the First Lord Harris.

Each of the Lord Harris’s added something of interest to the history of Belmont: The First received the peerage for his efforts in India - and spoils of war.

We enjoyed a visit to the Sculpture Park, Farnham, Surrey, on 5 May 2022. 

Up to 600 sculptures in an arboretum and wildlife inhabited water garden setting with meandering footpaths. The Sculpture Park, specializing in the exhibition and sale of 20th Century, Modern and Contemporary Sculpture has sculptures on show throughout a 2 mile trail at the 10 acre park.

Click here to see the report.

To read more about the visit, and to enjoy pictures, click here

The cost of the trip to Knole House and gardens

 is £21 for NT members and £35 for non-members

·        This will include return coach trip with four pick-up and drop-off sites.

·        A 50 minute guided tour of the House and collections – then time to explore the house and gardens at leisure. There are wide stairs and no lifts.

·        Knole House, including the showrooms, Orangery, bookshop, shop and Visitor Centre  are open.

·        The Brewhouse Café is open for snacks, drinks and a light lunch.

·        Friends are welcome at the same price

·        Refunds in exceptional circumstances only

Please book before 17 August

Visit to Chiddingstone Castle
Tuesday 22 June
 

TO READ THE REPORT ON THE VISIT, CLICK HERE

• This will include return coach trip with four pick-up and drop-off sites.
• Tea/coffee and biscuits on arrival.
• One hour guided tour of the castle and collections – depending on numbers this could be split into two groups – then time to explore the house and gardens at leisure. There are wide stairs and no lifts.
• Tea rooms or sheltered courtyard for a light lunch.
• Chiddingstone Village is owned by National Trust, it is a short walk over the little bridge on the lake, there is a pub, café and a very pretty church.
• Afternoon Cream Tea is included before departure.
• Friends are welcome at the same price
• Refunds in exceptional circumstances only

​Click here for the booking form

A Message from our Visits Secretary

A Virtual Tour of The Stately Homes of Britain and Beyond.

Due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control I have failed miserably to transport you to places of wonder and interest in 2020. We really don’t know yet when these visits will be able to go ahead again so I thought that you might like to go on a few Virtual Visits.

Type ‘Virtual Tours of Stately Homes’ into your browser (Google or whichever you use) and up will pop pages of Houses, Stately Homes and Castles for you to visit from the comfort of your chair. Some are brilliant, some less so but it all depends on what you like; I prefer tours that have a guide talking me through the architecture, the history, the rooms but I really enjoyed 22mins just looking at the rooms in Leeds Castle with only the chatter of very few tourists.

Type in ‘YouTube Virtual Tours of Castles in……’ (England, Scotland, Wales etc) and again there are pages of them. I found the YouTube virtual tours differed greatly; I exhausted myself following an American tour group around Wartburg Castle in Germany. I had to do a quick exit and moved into Spain.

The only problem that I have found is that once you start and are happy with the technology it’s exceedingly difficult to stop viewing interesting houses, gardens, and places of architectural interest. A few annoyances are having to sit through an advertisement at the beginning of a tour and trying to work out how to get out of some YouTube – I can’t tell you how, as it always comes as a surprise to me when I succeed!

After tiring myself out touring the British Isles, and we do have a huge amount of stunning Homes, Houses and Castles, don’t get me started on the beautiful gardens we can virtually visit! I crossed the Channel to France and started touring there - Fontainebleau is stunning and the clip I watched showed me things that I hadn’t seen when I have visited in real life, I then went on into Germany to Neuschwanstein Castle, the beautiful castle built on top of a mountain on which Disney based his castle. I chose a 360 degree tour which was a bit disappointing as it only showed the outside of the castle but the commentary was most informative. I found another YouTube clip that took me inside, not so interesting!

I toured through Italy visiting the Medieval city of Sermoneta which was more a walking tour and climbed a lot of steps, but I was comfortably in my chair with a cup of tea and a biscuit – no stress there! Spain has a huge amount of spectacular buildings to visit as well as tours of Barcelona and other cities.

YouTube can take us where Covid 19 has stopped us going – the clips last from 2 minutes to over 20 – you just choose. I would be very interested to hear about your favourite virtual place to visit, mine is Castle Cawdor, my husband’s clan ancestral home, the tour was very informative and it never stopped raining!

I hope this virtually ‘gets you out and about’. Keep Safe

Suki Calder

Trips Coordinator Arts Society of Medway

THIS VISIT HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS GUIDANCE

A springtime visit to enjoy the Japanese Garden and the Cherry Orchards.

Click here for the booking form.

Visit to Layer Marney Tower on Wednesday 04 September 2019

The day did not start too well – the coach was delayed plus it was raining and there were traffic jams throughout the Medway towns (first day many schools went back) but we were all on the coach by 9.30 am.  And the weather was due to improve later.

We were a group of 28 people on this outing. The roads after the A12 were at times rather narrow!

We arrived at Layer Marney just before 12 (lots of traffic at Dartford Tunnel) having had a short stop on the way at Lakeside.

Our guide Jackie was waiting for us. She waited while we had a late elevenses - we started with either flapjack or millionaire shortbread plus tea and coffee and then went straight on our tour. The weather had already started to improve – and we even had some sun.

We were doing the group tour and started off in the church with some history of the first owners. The alabaster tomb is that of Sir William Marney. His grandson was Henry Marney (who built the tower) and his son John also have tombs in the church. Henry Marney was one the most powerful courtiers of his time and you can tell how ‘friendly’ they were with the King because of the size of the lions at their feet. They were also really small people – with approx. size 4 feet and being only about 5 feet tall although John was about 6 feet tall (very unusual at that time). Some of the church is early Tudor and it was expanded later. There are rumours that the original stained glass and the gold and silver plate may have been hidden / buried somewhere in the grounds but it hasn’t been found yet. Much of the glass is therefore 19th century.

Layer Marney had a visit by Henry VIII in August 1522 (with his 1000 capacity entourage) arriving my river and then riding the 7 miles to Lower Marney on his white horse. Most people with him must have walked. it was only partly built. It has a taller tower (being 80 feet) than Hampton Court. It probably only stayed in the Marney family as it was incomplete though– Hampton Court not being so lucky.

At one stage the estate went as far as the Blackwater but has now shrunk considerably. However the views are still there.

Later owners of Layer Marney were the Tukes.  One of Sir Brian Tuke’s claims to fame was that he started the postal service. Elizabeth I is rumoured to have visited during the Tukes’s ownership and there is evidence of preparations for a visit in 1561.

There have been a number of subsequent owners some of whom owned it for many years but there have been periods, of several years, when the house was empty.

The current owners are members of the Charrington family (of brewery fame). It was first opened to the public in 1963. The eldest son Nicholas , of George and Susan Charrington, took over in 1989 and he lives here with his family of 4 children.

Externally the building is of Tudor red brick enhanced with terracotta in an Italianate style and with diaper patterns. There are some twisted brick chimneys. The building is only about 25% of what was due to be built.

The group tour takes in a number of rooms in the private part of the house. Our guide provided many anecdotes about both the family and the contents.  There was a lovely music box in the dining room that was exquisite. The only furniture that remained when the Charringtons bought it was the Billiard table! Everything else has been bought or retrieved from skips. There are many pictures by local contemporary artists.

The majority of people made it up to the roof. It was rather breezy up at the top but well worth the climb. And then we all had afternoon tea in the stable café.

Outside there were gardens plus various animals (pigs, goats, sheep, horses and chickens). The big barn is used for weddings.

We had an excellent guide who provided both facts and anecdotes and she obviously is passionate about her work. Jackie had a very clear voice so everyone heard too. She knew an awful lot and answered all the questions we had.

It was a very enjoyable visit and something to recommend to other Societies.

Visit to Savill Garden and Frogmore House on Saturday 10 August 2019

A group of 25 people went on this outing. We were warned beforehand that Savill Garden might not be open due to the adverse weather conditions (high wind) but set off at the scheduled time. An alternative stop at Windsor was pencilled in but after ringing the number provided, we were told ‘of course it is open’ so we went direct to Savill Garden only to find it really was closed! We decided to stay at Savill Garden, as Windsor would be really busy on a Saturday, – the café and shop were open (and weren’t very busy either) and we had been provided with maps of walks that could be done in the park. It was windy but dry. Free time for people to explore etc for a couple of hours. The pictures of the garden looked nice but it will have to be seen on a later trip.

Frogmore House was quite close although along roads that were quite narrow for a coach. There is police security there but they were very nice and we got in without too much trouble!

The guides were waiting for us and we were split into 2 groups. You could see Windsor castle just up the road.

The visit includes most of the lower floor and just a main corridor upstairs.  It is a 17th century building thought to be the work of the architect Hugh May and then enlarged with 2 wings by James Wyatt in the 19th century.

Various royals have lived there including George Fitzroy (the illegitimate son of Charles II) in the 18th century and the house was purchased by George III, in 1792, for his wife Queen Charlotte. Queen Charlotte and her daughters used the house for a country retreat, away from court life, in order to practise their artistic pastimes. The house was then used by the Duchess of Kent (mother of Queen Victoria) and then Princess Alexandra (who later became Queen Mary) and then by Princess Helena (third daughter of Queen Victoria). Queen Mary was a great collector and ‘acquired’ many objects that she admired on her visits to other places!  In the 20th century it has been used by the royal family for entertaining. e.g. various wedding receptions including the one for Prince Harry in 2018. A room is dedicated to the Royal Yacht Britannia ad has a selection of objects from the yacht – including a huge mahogany table.

Our guides were very informative and described each of the rooms that we were shown and various objects within them. Special mention was made of the room decorated with flowers in panels and on the ceiling by Mary Moser in the 18th century. Mary and Angelica Kauffmann were the only 2 women artists involved in the initial set-up of the Royal Academy with Joshua Reynolds.

It is a house that you can still imagine being lived in – albeit with an awful lot of souvenirs collected over the years! In some rooms it has been possible to redecorate them in their original style as many had been recorded in early photographs / coloured prints.

Everybody enjoyed their day out even if it was not quite what was initially planned. A refund for the Savill Garden tickets will be issued to all those who attended.

Cambridge including walking tour and visit to King’s college on Thursday 11 April 2019

A group of 26 people went by coach to Cambridge. It was a cold morning although quite sunny later.

We had a short stop en-route and arrived in Cambridge just after 11 am so slightly early for our booked tour which was due to last 1.5 hours.

However, our guides were waiting for us and so we split into 2 groups. One guide was called Min and the other Tim. We started at the back on the Colleges but the guides then took different routes. On comparing what the tours covered afterwards it was apparent that Min’s group received more information on the history of Cambridge and various colleges plus looking at some of the architecture of college buildings whilst Tim’s tour seemed more anecdotal going into the main streets and included points about Alice Springs, an expensive clock, bricks that were turned around and how students had got a car onto the roof of a building!

Both groups though ended up in King’s where both received information about the various architectural features on the inside of King’s chapel – the fan vaulting, the greyhounds, dragons and other political motifs and information about the stained glass. The building is built in the Perpendicular style (1450 – 1540s) – very tall with flying buttresses outside (so it doesn’t collapse!) The stained glass is predominately Renaissance and was never destroyed by Oliver Cromwell’s troops as they were living inside the building. The wooden screen contains the initials ‘H and A’- referring to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. The altar area has a splendid East window and also the Rubens’ ‘Adoration of the Magi’ which was donated in 1951.Many of the workers involved in the building were from Europe. The West window stained glass is much later and is of nineteenth century origin – it was plain glass before. The stained glass was removed in WW2 and MR James (the ghost writer), the dean of the chapel at the time, re-organised the glass in some of the windows.

Cambridge has had some famous students – Isaac Newton, Lord Byron, John Milton, Charles Darwin, Alan Turing, Sir David Attenborough, Stephen Hawking, Oliver Cromwell and even Prince Charles.

After the tour everybody had free time for lunch and to visit other places. Kettle’s yard was interesting and it has had a major extension added.

The trip home was hampered by standstill on the M11 (we went cross country to Brentwood at least kept moving) and then a further jam at M25/A2 junction due to an accident at Bluewater. It therefore took 3.5 hours to get to Strood! However, a good day was had by all.

Monday 10th to Friday 14th September 2018

Possibly the most beautiful city of Central Europe, the capital of Bohemia boasts an astonishingly rich cultural history and a wealth of magnificent art and architecture. The city nestles on the banks of the River Vlata, its high hills topped by castles and with numerous church spires reaching skywards. During its long history, Prague has experienced two golden ages of art and architecture; a gothic period under the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, and a baroque period during the Habsburg Counter Reformation.

TOUR PRICE
£995 per person sharing twin/double room
(excluding flights - we anticipate flights to range from £160-£220)
£220 single supplement

Tour price to include 4 nights’ bed and breakfast accommodation at the 4 star K&K Hotel, all local coaching in Prague, dinner in a local restaurant on the day of arrival, private cruise to include lunch, lunch in Kutná Hora, the services of a local guide throughout, concert at Lobkowicz Palace, early dinner on the day of departure, all entrance fees and
charges and gratuities. (We suggest return flights from London Gatwick to Prague).

Tour Highlights

• Walking tour of the Old Town including the Gothic Old Town Hall, Goltz-Kinsky Palace, Stone Bell House, St Nicholas Church, Tyn Church and the Convent of St Agnes
• Private cruise of the city to include lunch
• The Castle District to include Golden Lane, Prague Castle, St Vitus Cathedral, The Old Royal Palace and The Basilica of St George
• Lobkowicz Palace to include a musical concert
• The Lesser Town district to include St Nicholas Church and Charles Bridge
• A day to Kutná Hora to include the Sedlec Ossuary, the Church of St Barbara and the Italian Court
• The New Town district to include a private tour of the Municipal House
• A private visit to the Strahov Monastery

For a full brochure please contact either Helen Turner on turnhelen@gmail.com
or Heritage Group Travel on 01225 466620.

Goodwood house and afternoon tea visit, Monday 03 September 2018

A group of 29 people went by coach to Goodwood house in Sussex.

It was a quite a long drive so we had a stop en-route and arrived just after 1 pm.

The curator of the collection gave us a quick introduction to the house and then we were divided into 2 groups for the tour to continue with our guides who were both very informative about the house, its collection and the various family members. The tour took us through about one third of the house.

The guides took us through various rooms on the ground floor – this consisted of 2 rooms in part of the original house (the Jacobean part 1616 -17 with subsequent remodelling) and the remainder of the visit in the Regency part of the house (1800 – 1806). The remainder of the house is split between the family accommodation (the left side of the front of the building) and the rooms that are used as offices.

The first duke of Richmond (the illegitimate son of Charles II) originally rented Goodwood in order to enjoy the foxhunting with the nearby Charlton hunt. In 1697 he bought the house from the ninth Earl of Northumberland whose main home was at Petworth.

Subsequent Dukes have either added large sections to the house or refurbished parts of it. Architects have included Matthew Brettingham, Roger Morris and James Wyatt. Much of the great picture collection came from Richmond House in Whitehall which unfortunately burnt down in 1791. The current Duke is the 10th and his son and daughter in law (the Earl of March) and his second wife now live in the house and have been responsible for an extensive refurbishment programme in the 1990s restoring the Georgian rooms to their original Georgian glory.

The house contains paintings by many famous artists (hunting scenes by a young George Stubbs, London views by Canaletto, portraits by George Reynolds, George Romney, Peter Lely, Van Dyck and various old master paintings plus others by local artists) plus four large Gobelins tapestries given to the third Duke by Louis XV.

The Egyptian yellow dining room was a surprise as it is one of the earliest Egyptian style rooms in the country. It was originally designed by James Wyatt in 1802 – 1806 but was later dismantled / covered up in the Edwardian period. It has now been restored to its former splendour.

Our tour finished in the Ballroom (originally planned as a picture gallery) where we all sat down to a Ritz style tea. We were split over 3 tables and the tea was a delicious end to our afternoon out. A selection of cakes was parcelled up for our driver Gino to enjoy when he got home!

Photography in the house was not permitted but a few were taken in the Ballroom.

Waddesdon house visit, Thursday 19 July 2018

A small group of 14 people went by minibus to Waddesdon house in Buckinghamshire. It was a very warm day.

It was a long drive so we had a short stop en-route and arrived just after 11 am.

The house is in the style of a French Renaissance chateau but it was built in the late 1870s for Ferdinand de Rothschild who bought the land from the Duke of Marlborough. The house stands on the top of a hill surrounded by trees and grass with formal gardens.

Our tour began with a presentation of about an hour in the Powerhouse building. This building contains the remains of the initial electricity supply equipment and it was only the second large estate in the UK to have electricity installed. Our talk, by Susie, gave us background on the family (who had come from the Frankfurt ghetto and with absolutely nothing) to the various Rothschild owners and a summary of the huge quantity of treasures (furniture, panelling, paintings, textiles, ceramics, jewellery etc) that they have collected. At one stage the family owned over 40 ‘houses / estates’ in Europe. As a family the Rothschilds (the name means ‘Red shield’) were the greatest collectors of the 19th century and their choices range from Medieval to modern (with the collection still being added to). The talk gave an insight to what to look out for when we later visited the house. A Rothschild is still in charge of the financial management of Waddesdon even though the house was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1957.

The house was never intended to be a museum but to entertain and give pleasure to a limited circle of Ferdinand’s friends during ‘Saturday to Monday’ parties. No-one now lives in the house but it is a ‘showcase’ for the various aspects of the Rothschild collections and is absolutely magnificent and sumptuous. The majority of the house is available to see on the ground and first floors plus part of the second floor and some exhibits (like the elephant automaton) have videos showing them working.

A single visit is definitely not enough and we all enjoyed it immensely although also we were also stunned by the quantity and quality of the house contents – always something greater in the next room. The staff and volunteers there were both knowledgeable and very helpful.

Herstmonceux garden and castle visit, Friday 08 June 2018

A group of 28 people went by coach to Herstmonceux in East Sussex. For this visit we had a very warm and sunny day.

We had free time in the morning for walking round the lovely gardens and having time for lunch. There are many places in the grounds for sitting down and admiring the views of the castle and its moat. The gardens are done as a series of ‘rooms’ and they have many beautiful scented roses in them. The grounds were very quiet apart from the sound of a peacock and a lawnmower (as there is a lot of grass to cut!) There is a lovely Chestnut avenue with huge trees that are about 300 years old.

We had a very knowledgeable guide for our Castle tour and she spoke mainly about the various owners (dating back to the 12th century) and the architecture. Essentially the castle exterior is predominately 15th century and built of Tudor bricks (with just a small amount of stone) and is Grade 1 listed. It has never been used as a ‘fortification’ but more as a very large manor house. The interior courtyard, although looking old, is made of 20th century bricks as prior to the 20th century ‘restoration’ it was essentially a rambling ruin covered in ivy. Many of the original interior bricks were used to build Herstmonceux Place (which can be seen from the gardens).

After the second World War the castle was bought by the Admiralty and it became the new home of the Royal Observatory , Greenwich until the late 1980s as by that time much of the observatory work had been moved to Cambridge. The castle was sold and various offers considered – it almost got bought by the Butlins group! In 1993 it was bought by Canada’s Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario and Dr Alfred Bader (then Principle) recommended it be used as an international Study centre.

Our guided tour was for an hour but could have been for much longer. Many of us then stayed inside the castle for a cream tea.

After our cream tea and a final stroll many of us bought plants to bring home with us!

1. Arundel 2001 
2. Audley End 2012 
3. Basildon Park 2004 
4. Battle and Hastings 2016 
5. BBC Broadcasting House 2015 April and September
6. Berwick Church  
7. British Museum 2013 Pompeii and Herculaneum
8. Buckingham Palace  & Clarence House 2011 
9. Buckingham Palace 2000 plus other visits
10. Cambridge 2008 
11. Canary Wharf 2008 
12. Charleston and Michelham Priory 2007 
13. Chateau Tilques in France 2007 
14. Chenies and St Albans Cathedra l2005 
15. Clandon Park 2004 
16. Dulwich Picture Gallery 2004 plus 2010
17. Firle Place 2000 
18. Frogmore and Savill Gardens 2013 
19. Geoffrye Museum 2002 
20. Godington House 2003 
21. Goldsmith's Hall 2000 
22. Goodwood House 2004 
23. Greenwich and Queen's House 2005 plus 2007
24. Hall Place and Danson Park 2008 
25. Hampton Court 2009 
26. Hatfield House 2001 plus other visits including June 2017 
27. Hever Castle 2007 
28. Houses of Parliament 2014 
29. Ickworth House 2003 
30. Inns of Court 2005 8th and 22 November
31. Kensington Palace 2003 
32. Kenwood House 2005 
33. Kew Gardens 2013? 
34. Lambeth Palace 2000 
35. London Docks 2008 
36. London Eye and Tate Modern 2001 
37. Margate (Turner Contemporary) and Walpole Hotel 2014 
38. Marlow and Cookham 2011 
39. National Art Gallery 2012 leonardo plus other visits
40. National Portrait Gallery 2014 William Morris and his contempories
41. National Portrait Gallery 2016 Russia and the Arts
42. Parham house 2012 
43. Peter Medhurst in the Purcell Rooms in London various visits
44. Petworth House 2003 plus 2017
45. Polesden Lacey 2003 plus 2013
46. Queen's Gallery various visits
47. River Thames and Henley 2011 
48. Royal Academy 1999 plus 2001, 2008, 2017
49. Salutation House (Sandwich) 2008 
50. Somerset House 2001 
51. Spencer House 2002 plus 2004
52. Standen1999plus 2015
53. Tate Britain 2000 plus 2002
54. Tate Modern 2001 
55. Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne 2015 
56. Waddesdon 2010 
57. Wallace Collection 2002 
58. Walmer Castle 2008 
59. Watts Gallery 2016 
60. Westminster Abbey 2012 
61. Windsor Castle 2006 
62. Woburn 1999 

Visit to TATE BRITAIN, LONDON for ‘Impressionists in London:French artists in exile (1870 – 1904)’

Please note that this visit has been cancelled - not enough interest!

Trip to London to see the above exhibition

• 1 hour Lecture before exhibition entry
• Café and shop
• Friends also welcome (i.e. not limited to NADFAS members)
• Refunds in exceptional circumstances only
• Ties in with a separate Study Day scheduled for 27 March 2018

Cost £37 Tate members, £45 Art Fund members and £52 non Art Fund members – cost based on a minimum of 20 people attending. Cost includes coach travel, gratuity, lecture and exhibition entry.

****If 40 people attend then a partial refund of £11 off each of the above prices will be applied after the trip.

CLOSING DATE:  31 January 2018 – BOOK TODAY!

Further information from Annette Cooper.   

EMAIL:  annette.cooper22@btinternet.com

Home phone 01634 222159

This visit was principally to Petworth House (National Trust) where the present house was largely completed by the beginning of the 18th century. The National trust acquired it in 1947.

The weather was quite misty and not as warm as the forecast had indicated!

A group of 21 people went by coach and we were dropped off in the town by the church.

The house has been owned by the Percy, Seymour, Wyndham families. The private part of the house is lived in today by the second Lord of Egremont / 7th Lord Leconfield. Prior owners had been patrons of most famously Turner (20 pictures), Capability Brown (for landscaping the grounds) and Grinling Gibbons (wood carving).

We had a guide booked for midday and he gave us some background to the families that had owned the house and who had put the vast collection of paintings / sculpture / furniture together. This house contains the largest collection of paintings and sculpture that the National Trust has. The guide took us through the main house ground floor rooms pointing out specific items of interest. We then had free time to go back and look at things in more detail plus look at the various rooms in the kitchen block.

There are a lot of paintings by various other well-known names -Van Dyck, Titian, Lely, Claude, Reynolds, Blake, Gainsborough etc.

Other rooms at Petworth can only be visited with a guide for small groups and these are available at timed intervals but have to be booked rather than just turning up. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it is possible to visit some of the bedrooms and a separate tour visits the old Estate office rooms. A few of us went to see the Estate office rooms and this was very interesting – this was where the various tenants etc came to pay their rent every 6 months as well as where all the other legal work for the estate (and other estates the family owned elsewhere) was also carried out. On Monday afternoons’ it is possible to see the Library and a Sitting Room in the private part of the house. Something for another time if these were not visited on this trip.

Some of the group went out into the town to look at the various antique shops or visited the church. There is another small museum in the town (Mrs Cummings cottage). It’s a small terraced cottage and its garden and it is an example of what the Petworth landlord Lord Leconfield provided for his workers in 1910. 

My thanks to Lyn Rainbow for the photos and Eve Enns for checking attendance (pre Strood) – and of course to all those who attended this visit!

This visit was to Hatfield House and gardens on what was a very hot day.

A group of 20 people went by coach to Hatfield in Hertfordshire and we made very good time in both getting there and on the return journey.

We had a very enthusiastic and entertaining guide for our House tour.

The history of the original (Old) house begins in about 1485 but the main part of this that currently remains is the Banqueting Hall with its timber roof. The interior of this was not visited. Elizabeth 1 spent much of her childhood here and she learnt the news of her accession whilst in Hatfield Park.

The current house was instigated by Robert Cecil (first Earl / Marquess of Salisbury) after he acquired Hatfield in 1607 The house was completed in 1611 and is Jacobean and it was to be a ‘working house’. The main design was by Robert Lyminge but others were also involved in modifying the plans, e.g. Inigo Jones. It has rooms designed for state visits as well as and private apartments. Over the years it has had many royal visitors (James 1, Charles 1 and also Victoria) as well as famous authors and politicians, e.g. Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, Disraeli and Gladstone. The current family living in the house is that of the 7th Marquess.

Royal Academy visit, Friday 10th March 2017
Medway DFAS
This visit was to 2 exhibitions at the Royal Academy in Piccadilly, London.
A group of 16 people went by coach and several on the trip also hired the audio guides.
The main exhibition which we visited was the ‘Revolution – Russian Art 1917 – 1932. This year marks the centenary of the Revolution.
The exhibition explored the diversity of art made in Russia during one of the most turbulent periods in modern history. When Lenin and the Bolshevik Party swept to power in 1917, it ended centuries of autocratic party from the various
Romanov Tsars. After Lenin’s death in 1924, Joseph Stalin took over.
Initially, the Revolution enabled avant-garde artists greater freedom in the subject matter of their work. With Stalin though, by the late 1920s, the work of various artists was condemned by the Soviet authorities who promoted ‘Social
Realism’ as the ‘acceptable’ style of art which should be produced. The exhibition included works that had never been seen in pubic until many years after Stalin’s death in 1953.
The exhibition celebrated the vitality and variety of art in the 15 years after the Revolution and included not only painting and sculpture but also ceramics, textiles, photography, film and the graphic arts.
The exhibition included work by Kazimir Malevich, Vasily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, Pavel Filonov, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin and Alexander Deineka.
The exhibition opened peoples’ eyes to the living conditions in Russia as it moved from a principally peasant society into the ‘modern’ world. The oppression and fear that existed under the rule of Stalin and his infamous
purges is difficult for us to imagine today.

The smaller exhibition, not seen by everyone, in the Sackler Wing, was America after the Fall : Painting in the 1930s.
This was art, produced after the Great Depression of 1929 which had seen un-employment rise from less than 500,000 to 15 million in 1933. There had also been a huge increase in population (doubling between 1890 and 1930) largely

due to a huge influx of European immigrants seeking work in the rapidly industrialising cities. Many people were very poor. As in Russia, at the same period of time, many people worked in rural communities.
Again the Social Realism style was in vogue (but without the fear and oppression evident in Russia) – painting images of the transformation of the modern city, modern entertainment as well as the workers in various industrial
scenes.
The ‘Regionalists’ showed rural workers in the Midwestern states. One example of this is Grant Wood’s ‘ American Gothic’ (the first time this picture has visited the UK).
The exhibition included work by Stuart Davis, Edward Hopper, Alice Neel, Chares Sheeler, Grant Wood, Georgia O’Keefe, Helen Lundeberg, Jackson Pollack and Arthur Dove. The landscapes of Grant Wood had a similar look and feel to the work of Eric Ravillious.

Again, as in Russia, this was a period of great social and economic changes but these American pictures were a more positive portrayal.

Battle and Hastings (Sussex) visit on Tuesday 13th September 2016.

This visit was organised as 2016 is the 950th anniversary of the battle of Hastings. The battle itself took place on the 14th October.

The battle, between the forces of Duke William of Normandy and those of King Harold, marked the end of Anglo Saxon England.

King William I marked his victory by establishing a Benedictine abbey on the northern part of the battlefield and it became one of the richest monastic houses in England – until King Henry VIII decided to suppress the monasteries and disbanded religious communities in the 1530s.

The time since has seen many changes. Many of the monastic buildings were destroyed or fell into ruin, the abbot’s lodging was turned into substantial private house which is now a school (although this is only open to the public in August).

Our trip, comprising of 17 people, had a guided tour of the main features of the site along with a ‘potted’ history. This included the fact that the land had to be flattened in order that the abbey etc could be built and that it had no decent water supply. At the time of the dissolution everything was destroyed – although one of the stained glass windows survives as it somehow made its way to Buckland Church in Tasmania!

The monks earnt their money by writing and reading documents for those that couldn’t read or write. They were well looked after (in comparison to the standard of living of ‘ordinary’ people). But even so the lifespan of medieval people was generally only to live until their late 30s/40s.

English Heritage has just started to restore the walled garden – but this will be an on-going project lasting many years.

Many took the opportunity after the guided tour to walk up all the steps of the tower (not for the claustrophobic) and to walk around the newly opened roof - to get good views of the surrounding area.

We left Battle at 2pm to then go onto the old part of Hastings where we had a couple of hours of time – to spend as people wished – going into the art gallery, taking one of the lifts up the cliffs, visiting the Lifeboat museum, wandering in the side streets, or walking along to the newly opened pier (which had been mentioned in a recent lecture).

We picked a glorious day – if anything too hot so I suspect most people took the opportunity to cool down with either a cold drink or an ice-cream!

Watts Gallery

Medway DFAS

Visit to Watts Gallery, Compton near Guildford, Surrey.

Tuesday 12th July 2016

George Frederic Watts (1817 – 1904) married Mary Seton Fraser Tytler (1849 – 1938) in 1886 when he was 69 and she was 36.  GF Watts at that stage was known as one of the greatest painters and sculptors of ‘modern’ (i.e. Victorian) times. Mary was an artist. Between them they created the Artists’ Village at Compton.

They moved into Limnerslease, the house that they had built at Compton, in 1891. It started as their winter country house bolthole away from Little Holland House (Holland Park) in London but they spent more and more time there.

Our trip, comprising of 29 people, offered main entry to the site with access to the Chapel, Gallery (including temporary exhibition of early Victorian photographs), Sculpture Gallery, a room with ceramics and pictures from the de Morgan collection, Watts Studio plus café and shop). There were 3 guided visits (to the Chapel, Gallery and to Limnerslease House) that many also elected to do. The timetable for the day was quite tight but just about manageable and most people fitted in time for tea / coffee, lunch and a short break with local cake prior to getting the coach back.  

We could easily have spent longer at Compton (i.e. looking at the rest of the village) and a visit to Watts Gallery (for those with real stamina!) could be combined with a visit to the Loseley estate.

The guides were very informative and brought alive that it really had been, mainly due to Mary’s influence, a ‘living and breathing’ Artists village – setting up the Compton pottery and training of the local workforce in making clay panels / tiles and in making the gesso panels.

Watts gallery reopened after a major restoration in 2011 and continues with its ambitious campaign to continue to bring the site back to life. Much work has recently been done on landscaping of the grounds and 2016 has seen the opening of the Watts Studios at Limnerslease.

We all had an enjoyable and informative visit and would recommend it to other NADFAS groups.  Just one warning - the M25 though may disrupt your travel timings!

The Chapel.

The church yard of the Compton village church was full and the village needed a supplementary site. The Watts’ purchased the land from the Loseley estate (for £74 and 7 shillings).

Mary designed the mortuary chapel and set up weekly classes at Limnerslease to train about 70 local people to assist in the making of the terracotta panels with a few trained craftsmen overseeing the decorative work.

It was built between 1895 and 1904 and is built on a hillside.

The whole chapel, outside and in, is full of imagery. Outside it looks like a Byzantine church made of local small red clay bricks but full of various symbols in the terracotta work (e.g. owl for vision, peacock for hope, eagle for light and pelican for love). Inside, on the walls and ceiling, everything has a story associated with it. It really has to be seen.

There are cloisters and in addition to the Watts grave there is the family grave of the Huxley family (which mentions Aldous Huxley) as they were a local family.

Gallery

GF Watts was the most famous artist of his time. He was a true Victorian and wanted to use art as a way to educate and inspire people (with each picture telling a story).  He had the Gallery built, in Arts and Craft style, to house his work.

He was good friends with both Leighton and Tennyson.

He came from humble beginnings but was an overnight sensation, at the age of 20, when he exhibited ‘The wounded heron’ at the RA Summer exhibition.

There were 2 main strands to his painted work – the portraits and the symbolist paintings. There are about 60 of his works in the National Portrait Gallery. There is also though his sculpture work (e.g. Tennyson).

Limnerslease house

The house was started in 1890 and they moved in in 1891.

The house is in 3 main parts and only the central part of the house can be visited. The other part of the house is let although the Watts trust are in the process of acquiring the rest of it. Entered, via a new entrance, are the Watts Studios. The Watts studio is painted in what is known as ‘Watts red’ and all the painting frames are the same style.

GF Watts and Mary had travelled, on their honeymoon, to Egypt, Istanbul and Athens.

Mary made gesso panels of things seen on their journey and the ceiling panels, in the hall, show the various influences (Hebrew / Jewish, Egyptian, Buddhist, Brahmin / Hindu etc). These panels were made in the studio next door and done when they first moved in.

The house contains no original Watts furniture but it has photos (e.g. on the staircase) showing that it contained ordinary Victorian furniture.

Mary also did the ceiling panels in the Living Room and these are of things from nature (butterflies, bees, vine and wheat, owl, pelican, phoenix and cockerel).

Mary was a designer for Liberty.

Standen

Medway DFAS

Visit to Standen (National Trust) near East Grinstead, West Sussex.

Wednesday 23rd March 2016

The house was built as the Beale family’s summer residence in the 1850s.Their London home was in Holland Park. James Beale was a wealthy London solicitor. It was designed by Philip Webb and decorated with the help of William Morris’s firm of designers.

The house contains many of the original wallpapers and has many Arts and Crafts objects including William De Morgan ceramics and objects by WAS Benson amongst others.

We had an introductory talk by one of the guides which was very good. It made the subsequent visit to the various rooms much more interesting as we were provided with various details about the design of the house and of the family that had lived there.

The room settings were set out as in the 1920s. You can really imagine a family living there – it is not laid out as a museum but as if the ‘family’ have popped out for the day! The conservatory is full of plants and contains albums of photographs which were really interesting.

One of the rooms upstairs contained a garden embroidery exhibition and these were all to a very high standard.

Many of the attendees had been to Standen before but it is a place that you can go back to many times and enjoy / see changes. Recent changes this time included the redecoration of the zig zag corridor leading to the kitchen – some of the original wallpaper remains but the majority is ‘new’ but matched in beautifully. There is a lot of work is ongoing also in the garden – areas being cleared and then replanted plus a major update of the pond area. Our visit sadly was a bit early to see the fruits of all the gardening labour but we did get to see the chickens! Seeing it in the summer would be real joy.